The Dalai Lama on Saturday commended Prime Minister Stephen Harper for holding a private meeting with him one day earlier despite regular pressure from China on world leaders not to associate with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.
"He had the courage to meet me, so I very much appreciate that," the Dalai Lama said at a news conference following a speaking engagement in Ottawa attended by a reported 7,000 people.
Relations with the Dalai Lama is a touchy subject with China, a country the Harper government is eager to expand economic relationships with and which sees the Dalai Lama as a threat by encouraging the independence of Tibet from China.
The Dalai Lama has said before he is simply calling for enough au-tonomy for Tibet to allow its culture to survive, rather than outright independence.
At Saturday's news conference, he encouraged Canada to maintain its relationship with China.
The Dalai Lama hearkened back to the honorary Canadian citizenship given to him by Parliament in 2006, and he referred to Harper as "my prime minister."
The Dalai Lama said one of the things he did during the meeting with Harper was thank him for an agreement more than a year ago to accept 1,000 Tibetans into Canada from India over a five-year period.
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